Highlight Maker Hoops PRIME TIME: Design Notes
Hoops week is (finally!) here, and we're excited to get our "Prime Time" full-play module for Highlight Maker Hoops on your game table! We have three new releases aligned with the new full-play game, which we will reveal one-per-day, starting tomorrow at 5pm (TUES 05.14.24).
In the mean-time, here's part two of our introduction to Highlight Maker Hoops "Prime Time!" The first installment focused on the backstory behind development of the game. This post will zero in on the final product. Once again we'll use bullet points, these are not in any particular order of importance...
• Each of our previously released pro seasons included a PACE recommendation for full-play in the liner notes. Those recommendations are obsolete and should be ignored. Similarly, the PACE section in the "How-To" guide is also obsolete. Keep in mind, we wrote the liner notes and how-to before the full-play game was finished, and there's a note in the guide itself alluding to possible changes ahead. The new pace guidelines are included in the rules booklet that comes with the full-play game. For what it's worth, the new guidelines are not that much different than the old, so if you use the old guidelines you won't ruin anything, your scores will just be a little high.
• The “How-To” Guide is unchanged from before, except for the deletion of the outdated PACE guidelines as mentioned above. No need to purchase a new one if you have it already.
• Early ("History Maker") versions of the full-play basketball game included a Game Day chart, similar to the baseball game. We decided NOT to make those charts an "official" part of the game. We eliminated the HOT/COLD aspect from the FAC deck (too difficult to implement in-game) and relocated the HARMONY/DISSONANCE aspect from the player cards to the coach cards. That said, we will probably make an optional Game Day add-on available as a free download. We'll need to re-work the existing chart to focus on freshness and attributes/qualities. Watch the PLAAY CONNECT (e-newsletter) space this fall.
• HEATED PLAY results from the Fast-Action Charts will, undoubtedly, confuse a few gamers. We tried to make it simpler, but couldn't come up with a better method. So this is a pre-emptive post which will (hopefully) stave off a few questions!...
At its core, the "heated play" mechanic is designed to provide an upside to players who foul a lot, rather than making them always a liability.
Most of the heated play results read like this on the FAC: "If no (burst player), then (circle star) player (or RED player if no circle star) is fouled while taking a NET shot..." Stop right there. The reason we included the shot quality here is to accommodate the three-point era, with fewer fouls. If the player has the NET quality underlined (or, whatever shot quality is listed on the FAC), he'll hit a 3 pointer with NO foul called. Otherwise, he will miss the shot, even if he HAS the NET quality (but not underlined). The exception is the TIP quality--which is never underlined--it's always MADE on a HEATED PLAY result, sending the fouled player to the free throw line for an "and one" attempt.
NOTE that in the two-point era, you don't have to check for the underlined shot quality so the HEATED PLAY "otherwise" result is always going to be a foul while shooting, miss, and free throws. Except for TIP, which will be MADE and one free throw.
To summarize, the burst player's common foul either takes away a three-point shot/play, or keeps the fouled player from the free throw line (unless it's in the bonus). Another way to put this is that the real value of the burst player happens when his team is NOT in the bonus--he will keep points off the board with "good" or "smart" fouls.
• I promised Jule Sigall that I would include this in the design notes post. FAC #2 says “Defense CE with REACH blocks GREEN (ORB to CE) (ORB, no bonus for underlined REACH)” To clarify, this means that even if the defense CE has an underlined REACH, the offense CE gets a chance for a put-back and there is no automatic basket when the defense gets the ball back. In other words, here the defense center blocks the shot, but the offense center ends up with the rebound. It's kind of a fluky play.
• Another pre-emptive info-bit (thank you Steve Tower): when a technical foul is called, the opposing team gets a free throw and possession of the ball.
• For stat-keepers, note that the three-point field goal success rate will be a smidge high, around 40% rather than the actual 35% rate in pro ball. This is TOTALLY a book-keeping thing and has no impact on actual game play. A little background info here. The original "blast" game was built to distinguish between two-point field goals and three-point field goals made, but missed shots were not tracked at all. When I began adapting the game engine for true full play action, we added missed shots to the mix but there was no distinction between two- or three-point misses. Over the last couple of years, we've tweaked the FAC deck to make this distinction. But we haven't been able to dial it in precisely. Essentially, each game the FACs are counting a couple of three-point misses as two-point misses. At our established pace for play-testing, it would have taken another year to iron this out to everyone's satisfaction, maybe longer. There are plenty of house rules options to address this, if it's important to you.
• We added an advanced option for the two-point era after we noticed that the big rebounders--Wilt, Russell, Lucas, etc.--were coming up a bit short in their per-game rebound totals. The increased proliferation of three-point shots in recent decades has gradually moved the game away from the basket, which is where the "big men" dominated. In a perfect world, we would have a specialized FAC deck for every era, maybe even every season. However, I don't think most people would want to delay release of the game another few years so that we could develop this idea!
• I had some folks asking about double-teaming, fast breaks and pressure defenses. These elements are built into the game engine, rather than added as gamer-induced choices. Underlined defense and rebound qualities trigger fast-break baskets on the transition. The "lightning status" and Final Minute Mode charts add pressure defenses to the experience. Double-teaming is factored into the chip distribution dice rolls. (For example, when the red and/or purple chips go to lesser players, the game is telling you that the top scorers are being double-teamed or otherwise strategically neutralized.) Some gamers may prefer to have these tactics at their situational disposal, I understand that. But from my vantage point, the vast majority of our folks want a game that does the work for them so they can just relax and enjoy the action.
• (Related to the above) The game rules present the "dice roll for chip assignment" as an option, with the default method being manual placement. Every play-tester, however, strongly favored rolling dice for chip assignment, for a couple of reasons. First, it generated more realistic statistics. Second, it was faster than deciding on your own. Third, it adds a narrative element to the process that's memorable and enjoyable. In retrospect, it might have been better to make this the default method and offer manual placement as the option. Perhaps the manual placement is easier for people learning the game, though.
• Assists are trackable, but the method for assigning them differs from most tabletop games. The FAC reading does not direct you to assign an assist to player X on the basket. Instead, you’ll follow the narrative on the FAC reading to determine whether an assist is warranted, and who should get it. For example, a FAC reading might ask if the PG has the POWER quality; if he does, then the PF gets a NET shot. If the shot goes in, the assist would be given to the PG. In this way you understand not only who made the assist, but also how they did it. (You'll also see instances where they WOULD have gotten an assist had the shot not been missed!) Now, not every FAC is crystal clear on the assist, and indeed, some baskets are unassisted. Jule Sigall has developed a neat method for ascertaining assist figures, I'll do a separate blog post about this soon.
• There WILL be wonkiness in your first game. Expect it. In fact, every game will have its outlier stats. This is the way it is in real pro basketball. Last night's (05.12.24) Denver-Minnesota playoff game, Aaron Gordon was 11 of 12 on field goals (Denver shot 57% for the game). Minnesota's Karl-Anthony Towns was 5 of 18, Nickeil Alexander-Walker was 1 of 7. I would suggest playing (at least) a half-dozen games before making any statistical pronouncements on social media. On a related note, I think informed gamers will appreciate the difficulty of re-creating basketball statistics with the same level of precision that many expect of baseball games. At its core, baseball is a battle between two players, the pitcher and the batter. A basketball game has many, MANY more moving parts than a baseball game, and the action happens at a MUCH faster clip. That said, I think the vast majority of gamers will be pleased with the statistical portrait that HMH Prime Time will create!
Thursday night (05.16.24), we'll focus on the Prime Time "Final Minute" mode, which is almost a separate game. See you at 6pm MT (8pm ET) on the PLAAY Games YouTube Channel!